The Consoling Counselor

Author's Note: Attention readers, it took me a while to get back into Fanfiction. But coming back and doing another story was definitely worth it for me. I appreciate anyone who've read up until this point. It means a lot to me. Enjoy :)

Todd's POV

It's never a fun thing to see your girlfriend in so much pain. I quickly run to the bathroom and grab a band aid. Then I come back out to Maurecia. She's still crying and gripping her finger.

"Here you go." I say as she holds her right hand out and allows me to wrap the band aid over her wounded proximal phalange.

"Thanks cutie pie." She says, smiling at me but still crying. She then steps back toward my room. "Hey, I'm really sorry Fluffy." She says to the porcupine. Fluffy growls and slams the door. "Okay, I'll see you again later." She says trying to sound confident. "Is that alright?"

"EYYAH!" Fluffy screeches loudly through the closed door. Maurecia's tone lowers by a lot.

"Okay then. Have a nice night." She sniffles a couple of times. "I love you." Fluffy growls audibly as Maurecia revs downstairs and sits back on the couch. I follow her until I'm in the kitchen. I remove the chicken from the oven and place two of them on each plate. Then I turn the oven off and make my way back to the seat beside her. She's facing downward and her eyes are closed.

"Here you go honey." I say as I place the plate of chicken on her lap.

"Thanks Todd." She mumbles, not bothering to lift her head up. I begin eating my chicken and it's delicious.

"Mm! This is a good chicken!" I say as I cut myself another bite.

"I bet it is." She mumbles. My enthusiasm vanishes.

"So maybe you should try it?" I ask slowly.

"I'm not hungry." She says in a melancholy tone. I finally speak up.

"Hey." She looks up. "I really can't stand to see you like this." I say and she sighs. "What's on your mind?"

"Well." She sniffles. "I feel really ashamed right now." I raise an eyebrow.

"Why?" More tears make their way out of her eyes.

"I'm a horrible pet owner." She sets her plate on a table beside her armrest and continues bawling. I wrap my arm around her neck and her crying quiets a little.

"Don't cry Maurecia." I say as I kiss her left cheek. She sniffles and smiles at me.

"Thanks for trying to help me Todd." She then hugs me.

"It's what I do." I say while chuckling. "But why are you so sad?"

"Because I'm bad at taking care of pets." I chuckle once.

"Did I ever tell you about King Arthur?" Maurecia frowns.

"He was only a fish." I roll my eyes. "Fish don't last more than a year and a half unless you're lucky."

"Well, yeah but at least he died in peace." Her sad face comes back and she turns away from me.

"So did my hedgehog." Her hedgehog? She never mentioned owning any pets other than Fluffy.

"Your hedgehog?" I ask and she speaks up.

"Yeah, his name was Knuckles." I laugh a few times thinking about Sonic. "What's so funny about that?" She asks.

"Knuckles is an echidna." I say. She frowns.

"I didn't name him off of a game character." I stop laughing.

"Okay."

"I named him Knuckles because much like me, he had a tendency to make a fist and then punch people he liked." I guess that makes sense. "He was my best friend when I was young. I used to take him everywhere I went with me." This is a pretty fascinating story. "I'd bring him to the beach with me, or to a hotel labeled 'no pets', and even to our thirty story school."

"What happened to Knuckles?" I ask. She looks ready to cry again.

"Well…" She sniffles. "One cold winter day, I went outside to play and I left my window open." Her voice begins breaking. "I came back in about an hour later, and he was asleep." She stops talking and begins crying.

"What happened next?" I ask sympathetically.

"I waited until the day was over before I saw him still lying there in an unmoved position. I tapped him twice but he didn't wake up. So naturally I assumed he was just taking a long nap, but he was actually hibernating."

"That can't be good." I say.

"The next morning I woke up and he was still sleeping." She holds her hands in front of her eyes in attempt to keep her tears from coming. "So I picked him up and realized… he wasn't breathing!" She bursts into tears and sobs audibly. I wrap my arms around her back and hug her closely.

"There, there." I say quietly. "It's okay." She quiets down a little. "It's not your fault."

"Yes it is." I pull her in and she cries on my right shoulder. "I should've taken better care of him at the time!"

"You didn't know hedgehogs hibernated. That wasn't your fault." She looks up at me.

"But it was irresponsible of me to avoid doing research." I raise an eyebrow.

"Did it ever occur to you to look up whether or not to look up porcupines and hibernation?" She frowns.

"Well Todd, if you haven't forgotten, unlike you, I lack common sense." I sigh. "Common sense is a blessing that not everyone was given." I frown somewhat annoyed.

"No Maurecia. A lot of people have common sense. Just not a lot of people at Wayside." She shrugs. "I think I know what your problem is."

"What?" She asks in a pleading voice.

"You rush your decisions." She looks confused. "Do you think sometimes you make choices before thinking them through?" I ask her.

"Well… I don't know." She responds. "I don't really like thinking things through."

"And why is that?" I ask as she pauses.

"Well Todd, I'm just one of those people who are always in a hurry." That does sound like her. "If I've got an event in a half hour I don't sit down and get comfortable, I stand by the door even if I need to wait for ten minutes." She's hitting the nail on the head. "Even if it's somewhere I don't want to go like the dentist, or a wrestling meet one of my brothers are in, but I'm too eager to get them over with that I can't focus on anything else." I sigh again.

"Have you ever thought things through before you made a choice?" She nods.

"Fluffy was a choice I made that I took careful consideration for."

"Interesting." I say. "Why'd you name a porcupine Fluffy instead of Pointy or Prickly?" I ask out of curiosity because I really never knew why she named him Fluffy.

"Because when I first got him he was a soft, pink, baby porcupine who never stopped smiling and never growled or shrieked at anyone." That's the opposite of the Fluffy I came to know.

"How'd he turn green?" She rolls her eyes.

"Do you remember when Dana told everyone about Mrs. Gorf?" I never remember that teacher's name.

"Is she the 'witch' teacher?" She nods.

"She's the one who turned everyone else into an apple, she failed to capture me though because I was too fast." This doesn't make sense to me. "Fluffy was hit by her beam and he became a pineapple, and that is when I drew the line." I'm beginning to believe this is all just a made up story I shouldn't believe. "And so I evolved, I evolved into the stronger, faster, and more intimidating badass you'd never imagine out of the old Maurecia."

"Maurecia, no offense. But I really don't believe in Mrs. Gorf." I say sounding unamused. She looks a little nervous.

"I'm not making her up Todd. She's a real person."

"I'm not doubting she's real, but I am doubting she could turn people into apples." I say.

"Well she turned Myron into a potato." She says giggling a couple of times. I frown.

"That's racist." I say and she immediately stops.

"So, I never looked back at the old Maurecia, and Fluffy never went back to being pink or even a soft creature." She looks into my eyes half smiling, half sorrowful. "And I don't want to lose him like I lost Knuckles. Every morning I'd take his vitals and then tell him what we were doing for the day." I sigh.

"But you did tighten the leash to a choking point on him didn't you? Or did you give him a little bit of freedom?" She sniffles.

"No Todd, I didn't." She sighs. "I acted as a total control freak and never once let him stand ten feet away from me, until we came to your house." I pat her shoulder a few times. "I was hoping since your house is unfamiliar territory to him, he'd take a much longer time getting comfortable here and I wouldn't need to worry about it. But he'll take any chance at a little privacy he can get and can get aggressive when I try to forbid it." I slide a little closer to her.

"It's okay Maurecia. This does show that you care about him." A few tears fall down her face.

"Yeah, I cared so much that I became oblivious to how desperate he became as an individual." She looks up at me again. "Am I the bad guy?" I pause for a second because I didn't expect her to ask that question.

"Well, I'm not really the one who you should ask that to, don't you think?" I say nervously.

"No Todd." She says. "Am I in the wrong here? If you say yes I won't feel any worse about myself than I already do." This hurts me a lot, not just as her boyfriend, but as a human being.

"From one person's point view you might be considered the antagonist." She sighs. "But overall you only did it because you were scared of the fact that you could lose him. And that alone is forgiving on its own." She pulls me into her and hugs my body. "I know what it's like to long for an absolution and never necessarily receive it." She raises an eyebrow.

"Pardon me for asking, what is an absolution?" It's not a very common word so it's fair that she wouldn't know.

"Basically it's a total relief of guilt. The holy bible is the only example I've seen because it says Jesus Christ died for our sins to be forgiven." She looks fascinated.

"That's pretty deep." She says.

"I know. But I've never felt the feeling of absolution myself after the incident I had with the kindergarteners or when I put you in a coma." She hugs me even tighter.

"Thank you for telling me that Todd. I really do love you a lot." I blush a bit.

"How much is a lot?" I ask.

"Infinitely and eternally." She says as she continues to hug me with her eyes closed. "I hold you so dearly within my heart that the space of the entire universe itself is only a fraction of said infinity."

"Wow." I'm pretty impressed. "That's a lot of love." She sniffles again.

"I know. And I hold Fluffy within that void to because sometimes he's the only one who understands my true feelings." My heart feels touched.

"He's pretty good at that." I say. "Did you know what happened last year while you were in the hospital?" She opens her eyes and faces me.

"No, I never really heard how that story went for anyone other than my family."

"Well I think it affected me a little more than any other human being." I think about what I'm saying. "Because for the longest time Fluffy couldn't stand me at all and it's because you were so attracted to me."

"I was totally oblivious." Maurecia says.

"I know you were for the time being. But the morning after you were injured and put in the hospital, we had a fight." She looks surprised.

"Really? You got into a fight?" I nod. "You never seemed like the kind of person who would fight with anyone, let alone a small animal."

"Well he'd already induced enough stress on me beforehand. But the fight wasn't the important thing because I won." She looks half scared and half sad.

"You didn't hurt him did you?" I shake my head.

"Not to my understanding, but the fact is, when the fight was over he showed me your scrapbook and I learned your true feelings." She chuckles.

"That's cute."

"I know. But after that I fed him some peanut butter crackers, which he loved, and then he and I became friends. It was a bigger surprise for me than anything else. The fact that such a hateful creature showed some maturity." She gets a cutely fascinated look on her face.

"Awe! This is the cutest story ever!" She exclaims.

"I know." I continue. "But he spent the rest of the day making plans to help me out and succeeded at the end of the day."

"That's nice." She says.

"But that's not the best part. The thing that matters is that he's really forgiving and he has the capacity to change his behavior." She smiles at me. "Do you want me to talk to him?" She nods.

"That'd be very sweet of you." She says. "This Todd is why I love you. You always want to help others." I nod.

"Then it's settled." I get up and head for the stairs. "In the meantime I'd like you to eat your chicken." She giggles.

"Whatever you say 'counselor'." She winked at me during the word; counselor. I never really did think of myself that way, but perhaps she looks at it as, a behavior modification thing. I walk up to my room and knock on the door. I hear Fluffy hiss on the other side.

"Fluffy, it's Todd." He quiets down. "May I please come in?" I ask.

"Mm hm." He hums in agreement. I open the door and enter the room.

"Hey pal, what's up?" I greet him as I close the door behind me. He faces me and mouths out his sentence.

"I'm doing fine." He says. I've learned how to read his lips so we can communicate successfully.

"Are you still mad at Maurecia?" I ask. He looks down in a tone of sorrow.

"Kind of." He sighs. "Though I do feel a little guilty for hurting her so much." I'm glad he's being reasonable about this.

"Well Maurecia feels really ashamed right now and she doesn't blame you for any of it." Fluffy turns his head a little.

"Is that so?" I nod.

"Yes, she said she had a hedgehog that died in hibernation and she wanted to avoid making the same mistake with you." I say. He makes eye contact with me.

"Todd, did you know that porcupines don't hibernate?" I nod.

"I discovered that at the last minute."

"Fair enough." He mouths.

"But can you agree that even with her restrictions, you came off as a little harsh?" He makes a 'so and so' gesture with his hands.

"Maybe I did, maybe I didn't." I face palm.

"You bit her finger until it bled." He faces downward. "I understand you were grouchy about this situation and wanted to sleep undisturbed. But that really doesn't make you less guilty for biting her the way you did." He closes his eyes.

"Todd." He starts to say. "Are you aware that I was very comfortable here and I was enjoying a relaxing nap before she woke me up?" I nod.

"I agree with that." He continues.

"I thought coming here would give Maurecia more time with you and less time with me. And even though I used to worry that you'd completely take her away from me, she took the supervision part a little too far." Sometimes it's tough to see Fluffy being so sensitive. Sometimes I even forget he's a porcupine.

"Did you ever hear about Knuckles?" He nods. "She didn't want you to go the same route he did." He turns his head to the left a little. "So you do see her motives were pure even if she didn't do something simple such as looking this thing up online." Fluffy turns towards me and sighs.

"Todd, I love Maurecia with all my heart, I really do. But sometimes I worry she'll make the same mistake with you in the future." I don't really get that part.

"What mistake? I'm a human and humans never hibernate." He shakes his head.

"I mean, do you ever worry she'll treat you the same way she treats me?" I pause and straighten my posture. "Do you ever stop to realize that once you two are adults, she may never stand more than ten feet away from you your entire life?" That honestly sounds pretty ridiculous.

"I'm not sure." I say. "But as sad as it is for me to say, your life won't last anywhere near as long as ours unless we're really sick or injured, or unless an elixir of life is found." He looks down.

"I'm well aware of my seemingly inevitable early death." He mouths. "But what about the life I currently am living? I want to enjoy it the same way you do. I want to spend time with Maurecia but I don't want her to act as a helicopter parent." That's fair.

"I understand. But is hibernation really a set off to your relationship?" I ask. He sighs, pauses for a few seconds, then continues.

"Todd, hibernation isn't lethal to my health at all, but sleep is still a pretty critical thing to my species." I'm afraid I know where he's going with this. "In winter, a porcupine needs more sleep than usual for successful satisfaction. We still wake up each morning but preferably at a later time." That is exactly what I thought he'd say.

"I had no knowledge of that and I'm sure Maurecia didn't either." He nods.

"I imagine she'd have no clue." He mouths. I sit next to him and stroke his back very gently. When he's not angry his quills aren't an issue.

"Fluffy, Maurecia loves both of us equally. You know that right?" He nods. "Good, but you can imagine life can be tough for someone living in a home with six brothers for most of their life, almost dying, almost driving away someone they care about so dearly." He looks up at me.

"I see." I move on.

"I had some serious plans on returning to my old school that week but then you became a critical factor." I pick him up and hold him in front of my face. "I guarantee if you weren't there at the time I would've left Wayside." He looks surprised.

"Really Todd?" I nod.

"Yes Fluffy. I would've let the guilt of hurting Maurecia overtake my decision and leave because I couldn't get respect out of my teacher or my classmates. But you Fluffy, you guided me through a path to meeting all of my standards I wanted completed before the week was over." He smiles.

"I didn't know that." He says.

"Well I did. Even after all those times you shrieked at me, you forgave me even after learning I injured Maurecia. Why is that?" I ask.

"Because you're a loving person Todd." I'm touched. "You proved that you don't care how poorly someone treats you, you're always willing to forgive them." Is this actually true? "You even told me you wanted to be my friend and that's something I'm never going to forget. You're a good person Todd, and I'm certain that if you and Maurecia somehow get married in the future, you'll lead her through a wonderful life." I feel a joyful tear fall down my face.

"Wow Fluffy. I never knew you thought that of me." He shrugs innocently.

"Guilty as charged." He responds. I hug him gently.

"Thank you." I say as he hugs my chest lightly. "Do you want to go make things right with Maurecia?" I ask. He nods lightly.

"Yes please." I set him on my shoulder and step back out of the room. When I make it back, Maurecia has an empty plate on the table next to her and is writing in her diary.

"Hey babe." I call out. She looks up, gasps happily, and smiles widely upon seeing Fluffy on my shoulder. "Someone has something to tell you." Fluffy jumps into her lap and hugs her stomach.

"Oh sweetie, come here!" She hugs him back. Seeing them both so happy is introducing a rare level of proudness I don't normally see. It really is beautiful watching them make amends.

"That's much better." I say. Maurecia speaks up.

"Oh Fluffy, I'm really sorry for being such a pain this winter, I didn't know how much sleep meant to you." She then looks back at me. Fluffy turns around concerning as well.

"Face him while he talks." I say. Maurecia looks confused for a second but faces him anyways.

"I forgive you." He says relaying the message the best he can. Maurecia looks marveled by this all of a sudden.

"Did you just say 'I forgive you,' to me?" She asks and he nods.

"Yes I did." He responds. Her entire face lights up then she looks back up at me.

"Is that how you boys communicate?" She asks and we both nod.

"Yes it is." I say. "Ludwig Von Beethoven was deaf, but whenever someone would speak to him he'd face them so he could make out what they said. It's a little skill I got used to myself." Fluffy responds.

"It's true." Maurecia looks so happy.

"Well Fluffy, that's going to definitely change how we communicate moving forward. But that's okay." He smiles at her lovingly. "I promise from now on you can sleep whenever you want to."

"And I'm sorry I bit you." Fluffy says apologetically. "I just need some extra sleep time in the winter to maintain proper health and solid stamina." Maurecia begins stroking his back very gently.

"Okay Fluffy. You deserve it." They make eye contact again.

"I love you." Fluffy mouths. Maurecia and him shed tears at the same time.

"I love you to Fluffy!" She playfully grabs him and pulls him close to her for a large hug. "You're the best porcupine any girl could ever ask for." Fluffy licks her on the cheek and she giggles a little. "That tickles!" She exclaims as Fluffy continues licking her cheek repeatedly and she laughs audibly. After a couple of minutes they stop, regain their breath, and look into each other's eyes. "Thank you for forgiving me." Fluffy winks.

"It's the least I could do. Especially after all you've done for me." He responds as they hug again with their eyes closed. For about twenty seconds neither of them move or speak. I finally speak up.

"It's nice to see you two back together as a family again." They both open their eyes and face me. "Back to one; proud, happy, loving, close family." I say happily. I'm getting pretty good at this 'counselor' thing. They both turn back to each other for a brief second, smile in unison, then look back up at me.

"You know Todd?" Maurecia begins. "This family isn't quite complete yet." I blush deeply because I know where this is going.

"Yeah Todd." Fluffy agrees. "There's someone missing here." I step forward.

"That's too bad." I say sarcastically. "How will we ever fill this void?" Maurecia raises an eyebrow.

"I think I know how." I just concede at this point.

"Me to!" I exclaim as I join their hug. Maurecia gives out a loving hum as Fluffy purrs contently. I feel closer to them than ever before and it's a pretty satisfying thing to know Fluffy looks at me like a daddy or something. They're both very adorable and seeing them both so happy is something I'm so proud of.

A couple minutes later, I finish eating, Fluffy eats half a peanut butter sandwich, Maurecia openly washed our dishes for us even though I insisted otherwise. I feel like I've done a great job managing this relationship. After another fifteen minutes, Fluffy is lying sound asleep in a small bed I set up for him. He's finally getting a well-deserved rest. Maurecia changed into her pajamas and gets into my bed.

"Care to join me?" She asks sounding rather seductive. I put on my own pajamas and lay next to her.

"Of course." She hugs me again.

"I love you Todd." She says as she kisses my right cheek.

"I love you to Maurecia." I say. She giggles at me.

"I know." She turns to the side and turns off the lamp. I still have one more question.

"Hey Maurecia."

"Yes Todd?"

"I have to ask, what brought you to calling me your 'counselor'?" She sighs happily.

"A counselor's job is to give advice when needed or console someone who's down while looking equally into both perspectives. When talking to me, you used Fluffy's point of view. And when you spoke to Fluffy, you used mine. Things like that are what bring people back together, and you did a great job with that Todd. Every time you do something like this, the capacity I have for love only increases." I chuckle and respond.

"I thought you said love was infinite?" She chuckles a few times.

"It is Todd, I love you infinitely. But it's the things that you do and the things that make you who you are that give me an understanding of how much I love you. It's to the point where infinite has reached a new level." I don't know how she's so good at saying romantic things.

"Wow Maurecia. I love you to." I say as I wrap my arms around her.

"I'm glad to hear that." She says. "Good night."

"Good night." We peacefully exit our conscience for a brief time into the feeling of harmony within our dreams. This is the most pleasant sleep I've ever had.

Author's Note: And done with that one, finally! This chapter took a little longer than I predicted but I'm glad I could get through it. Stay tuned for more. Goodnight. :)